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The 5 C’s of Historical Thinking (the “C” words). Context. the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event
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Context • the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event • i.e. In what context did your attack on him happen? - We had a pretty tense relationship at the time, and when he insulted me I snapped. Preston Brooks’ attack on Charles Sumner
Complexity • something complex: the complexities of foreign policy • i.e. achieving peace between Israel and Palestine
Change Over Time/ Continuity • Do certain events/ issues change over time or do they stay the same? • i.e. women’s rights- right to own property, voting etc… Women voting in Wyoming
Causation • We tend to care about the “why” • i.e. historians tend to argue over the causes of various events, i.e. the Cold War. • We can’t settle on the why. • Our experiences have us change our opinion of events in the past
Contingency • Ideas and events happen for a range of reasons, but take a factor out and maybe the idea or event would not have occurred as it did. The “what if” scenerio • What if slavery had never been introduced in America? • What if Abraham Lincoln had not been elected in 1860? • Things always could have happened a different way.